Tag: week 2

Two Cents Tuesday Challenge: Intent – Week 2

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Water, consciousness & intent

This video by Masaru Emoto, and his related research, sums up much of what we having been trying to pass along lately to anyone who will listen: that it is not so much about the small, selfish, antagonistic petty NOW of things but rather the greater implications of what we do going forward as it affects everything that surrounds us.

“Sometimes, when we cannot see the immediate results of our affirmations and or prayers, we think we have failed. But, as we learn through Masaru Emoto’s photographs, that thought of failure itself becomes represented in the physical objects that surround us. Now that we have seen this, perhaps we can begin to realize that even when immediate results are invisible to the unaided human eye, they are still there. When we love our own bodies, they respond. When we send our love to the Earth, she responds.”

We must be mindful of what we comes out of our mouths, how we act, what we do, choose our thoughts and intent so that they reflect positively and help cure all that sad and vicious violence that manifests each day, big and small, visible or hidden in so many ways. As our grannies used to say – Every little bit counts.

“What is your intent?” – take that photo, sing that song, curl up in a chair and read the day long, give a hug, a peck on the cheek, run a mile or walk all week – We would love to see your vision…

For all those who are new readers to Across the Bored, some great entries and the guidelines for this fortnight’s challenge can be found here. Need more info or want to browse past themes? Have a look at HOW DOES THIS WORK.

Two Cents Tuesday Challenge: Lunch – Week 2

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carrot soup

half way there

There is a huge snowbank in our front yard telling us that it is soup season again. Miss Z has gone to all the trouble of googling a healthy recipe for the 5 pounds of carrots in our fridge and so we set to work this afternoon. We are not really a fan of sweet soups but a large amount of ginger, garlic and onions seemed just the ticket to take the edge off what could otherwise be cloying and unpalatable. Some simple chopping, a little simmering in the dutch oven, a whir in the blender, a toasty baguette on the side and voila… tomorrow’s midday meal.

We much prefer when someone else does the cooking. No matter how tasty the creation we have concocted, it just doesn’t seem as appetizing to us as it does to everyone else. Perhaps because we have lingered too long over it, inhaled the aromas until we no longer have the need to actually eat it. No matter, there are plenty of hungry monsters in the house to devour the potful.

“What do you do for lunch?” – brownbag or five-star, sandwich or soup, miss it completely, go with a group, left-overs or made from scratch – We would love to see your vision…

For all those who are new readers to Across the Bored, some great entries and the guidelines for this fortnight’s challenge can be found here. Need more info or want to browse past themes? Have a look at HOW DOES THIS WORK.

The Big 5 – “When” do you get annoyed? – Week 2

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download

I swear it wasn’t there 2 days ago

It seems to take a lot of fancy dancing on our part just to keep up with all the innovations that Apple and the 400 or so app providers we use keep churning out, so we’re not always completely pleased when notified that it’s time to upgrade to the “latest version”. Half the time something really nifty and easy to use is gone, disappeared with no explanation, leaving us to Google and in worst case scenarios, search support (which more often than not doesn’t provide an answer).

We upgraded to Yosemite and had to spend way more time reconfiguring things we really don’t know much about than should be necessary. We’re more of the “turn it on, it works, let’s go” type of user, accustomed to having things where they are supposed to be and in working order.  Imagine our surprise when we discovered that the download icon was gone. Not there. It used to have it’s own pride of place with a lovely dropdown menu that you could track all that stuff you just had to have in one place. Endless navigation and clicking ensued to find out just what were we supposed to do now. And as much as we searched, all we could find was that it was no longer a familiar part of our browser window. No explanation, no logic for its removal. We finally figured out to set our preferences to desktop rather than a downloads folder just to make sure we were actually getting what we wanted.

This morning we noticed that our happy little icon is back. Let’s see whether it has the full functionality of its parent. We do love change, of sorts, but the Big 5 Challenge is not a fan when things that are supposed to streamline our workflow and make our lives easier are just dumbed-down. Don’t assume we don’t need those features that worked beautifully and were a part of what drew us to you in the first place – hello Apple… is there anybody actually out there that is not trying to justify their salary by fixing stuff that isn’t broken?

“When do you get annoyed?” – on the bus or in the car, up close and personal, way too far, by too much noise or too much talk, by things that stick on shoes when out for a walk… We would love to know when you get your knickers in a twist.

For all those who are new readers to Across the Bored, some great entries and the guidelines for this challenge can be found here: Need more info, want to browse past themes or get the badge for your blog? See HOW DOES THIS WORK.

Two Cents Tuesday Challenge: Chores – Week 2

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dog choreslooks like he’s found a project

Nature has been playing fast and loose with the thermostat recently. We’ve had bouts of intolerable cold book-ended by mini heatwaves, festive flakes followed by dreary drizzle and it all adds up to muck. The kind of gooey, clinging black gold that our dog seems to take great joy in getting up close and personal with.

Most days it’s in and out at least fifteen times for little nature jaunts that last around 5 – 10 minutes with the requisite call and return of barking to the neighbourhood pooches. Whether sitting on the deck sending esp messages to his friend to come out and play or sniffing around the bushes to check whether the children next door have lobbed another ball over the fence, there is always some indication that he is on patrol. This particular day we were otherwise occupied – so much so that we forgot where he was because it was too quiet.

Not a digger by nature, the wild variations in temperature must have brought an incredibly tantalizing smell to his attention: there he was belly to the ground in the flower bed, face buried up to the eyebrows under the stone wall. Varmint! We could hear him thinking. Critters!  We now have a small trench beside the rhododendrons, one that gets progressively deeper every time the sun comes out and things warm up enough for excavation.

He is thrilled. Us less so as it means a doggie hose-down a few times a day. This must be one of the few times we can actually say that we will be pleased when things freeze over…. “What do you think is a chore?” – milking cows or shucking corn, stuck in traffic tooting your horn, laundry, yard work, going to school, sorting, saving, lists of rules – We would love to see your vision…

For all those who are new readers to Across the Bored, some great entries and the guidelines for this fortnight’s challenge can be found here. Need more info or want to browse past themes? Have a look at HOW DOES THIS WORK.

The Big 5 – “Where” do you eat? – Week 2

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green apples

an apple a day

It’s been years since we had to pack a lunch for ourselves or, for that matter, walk further than a hundred feet to find something to snack on midday seeing we are “lucky” enough to live and work out of the same premises. We do, however, keep an eye on what the Ghost and Miss Z throw in their backpacks to sustain themselves through their busy schedules. Their food of choice these days tends towards the portable, bite-sized, not too smelly and unobtrusive.

The rigours of back-to-back seminars means that some days our monsters have to actually eat in their classrooms. Just as walking down the street with a coffee or bottle of water in hand wasn’t a common occurrence thirty years ago, neither was noshing down on a fragrant smoked-meat in a “State of the Media” symposium. Times change. Many of the unwritten rules of public comportment that we took for granted are long gone and we either go with the flow or run the risk of becoming stale-dated like that mystery meat sandwich from the vending machine.

Meal-time, under the best of circumstances, is no small effort and the Big 5 Challenge is curious about “Where do you eat?” – in bed or on the sofa, in front of the tv or in a cafeteria, on the road or in the air, alone or in a crowd, way too fast or without a care …

We would love to know where you chow down.

For all those who are new readers to Across the Bored, some great entries and the guidelines for this challenge can be found here: Need more info, want to browse past themes or get the badge for your blog? See HOW DOES THIS WORK.

Two Cents Tuesday Challenge: Rant – Week 2

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punk rock is a joke
it’s really just baroque

We just don’t have it in us today to go into any long tirades about this or that. The winter winds have whipped their way into our neighbourhood to let us know that it won’t be long before the ground is completely covered in the great white stuff, so we are taking today to do a little catch-up before getting the shovel out.

A little bit of creative surfing brought us to the video above and, being both a music lover and always up for a good yuk, it was deemed a perfect fit for today’s challenge.  Looks like we’ll be spending some of the upcoming duller winter days snorting and guffawing over RobPRocks Youtube playlist…

This fortnight’s topic has its silly side and like any good declaration gets its message across in a way that can’t be ignored.  “How does a rant make itself felt for you?” – loud and proud, scrawled or bawled, snide or snotty, on the wall, in the post or in the news, blogged or flogged – We would love to see your vision…

Enjoy.

For all those who are new readers to Across the Bored, some great entries and the guidelines for this fortnight’s challenge can be found here. Need more info or want to browse past themes? Have a look at HOW DOES THIS WORK.

The Big 5 – “What” do you do? – Week 2

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mason jars

nuts

Sometimes we get so busy that we just don’t want to do it anymore.  There are days when we’ve beaten a concept to within an inch of its message and still can’t manage to get that resounding pop of satisfaction and those are the hours when we’d really rather be doing something else. Like rearranging closets, cleaning the garage or taking every dry good out of its awful plastic packaging and putting it into lovely, aesthetically pleasing and ecologically conscious mason jars. If we are going to waste time, it can at least be constructive.

Such manias are labour intensive for the most part. They can be the stuff of drudgery or filled with the crisp exhilaration of industriousness at its best. Our organizational skills have been honed over a lifetime; they are legend, a repository of much wisdom and have been, at every opportunity, imparted to our offspring much to their chagrin.

This fortnight the Big 5 Challenge pondered “What do you do?” – enigma or electrician, caregiver or taker, just starting out or enjoying the fruit of your labours, rich man, poor man, beggar man, thief …

We would love to know what takes up most of your time.

For all those who are new readers to Across the Bored, some great entries and the guidelines for this challenge can be found here: Need more info, want to browse past themes or get the badge for your blog? See HOW DOES THIS WORK.

Two Cents Tuesday Challenge: Dirty – Week 2

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dirty2 we all know who has been sitting in this chair…
not very inspiring

Once upon a time, when we were just two, things didn’t seem to get quite as filthy as they do now. Perhaps that is to be expected as we had much less stuff. Our wasted days were spent at work and misspent nights partying long and hard: cleaning consisted of emptying overflowing ashtrays and tossing a liquor store’s worth of drained bottles in the bin. A quick pass with the vacuum and a pillow fluff here and there and things were restored ship-shape. Rinse and repeat.

Then we were three: early to bed, early to rise non-smoking section, what exactly is that stain types where Richard Scarry replaced the Sunday New York Times. One fine day we were four: inured to the litany of laundry and Lego underfoot, a small whirlwind proved that chaos theory comes in the form of misplaced Barbie accessories and frilly barrettes.

Now that we are sometimes five and a half, the logistics of domestic maintenance requires the steely nerve of a drill sergeant and a complete corps of army engineers to effect any reasonable change. Sadly, yours truly is in command of neither but we have out of sheer stubbornness, learned how to say no so that others may learn how. 

The half in the complex equation above must be credited with a very large paw in creating a flotsam and jetsam of fur, twigs, and sticky bits that floats then clings to almost everything. We try and keep a clear line of sight above knee-level, for below there be monsters.

We cannot remember what a tidy house looks like. No matter how much we ask “What if the Queen comes to visit, what would she think?” – our pleas fall on deaf ears. Apparently no one irons anymore, nor do they dust. We suspect that they just move. “What does dirty look like to you?” – mud or mould, dingy or dim, greasy, creasy or caked on, rated X, fair or foul – We would love to see your vision…

For all those who are new readers to Across the Bored, some great entries and the guidelines for this fortnight’s challenge can be found here. Need more info or want to browse past themes? Have a look at HOW DOES THIS WORK.

The Big 5 – “Who” do you resemble? – Week 2

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Dog-snarlingit’s not always pretty

Funny how the complete draft of a post can be so clear right before one falls asleep and then the next morning we find ourselves trying to pick up the rather frayed thread to weave it all back together… Some things set us off easily perhaps more than they should and with that being said, it is a good thing that we have the sense to value sleep more than firing off email responses at 12:30 am. In the light of day they make much better copy and transform us from snarling hell-hound to obstinate rat-catcher with a mission.

It all started with a simple message – “No notifications yet“. Perhaps some of you have also seen it recently on your mobile WP apps, maybe we’re the only lucky soul. In any event, we had been otherwise occupied with real-life stuff over the last few weeks and didn’t pay it much mind, but then it started to be a ridiculous reminder that something evidently wasn’t right and so we emailed Tech support with a query. Before we launch into this lengthy tirade, let it be known that we have had some amazing help in the past from people at WP who actually did get it and this whole incident unfortunately fell at the tail end of a series of less than inspiring customer-service encounters. Run-ins that left us wanting to shred something to bits and shake it ’til it gave up.

One would have thought that having a WP.com blog meant getting a simple, direct answer from our loving host but that would have been too easy: in order to find some resolution we were requested to open a new account at WP.org (oh joy, another password to keep track of) and repost the same query all over again. Now, being one who can appreciate the finer points of “staying organized” (.com’s  answer) we went through the motions. A day later we were asked whether we were actually logged into the right account and that’s where we almost lost it. Logged in? To the mobile app on our home screen that stays open all the time so we don’t have to clumsily type our lengthy coordinates into the tiny log-in window while we are being jostled on the bus or playing co-pilot in the car. Logged in to the one account that we’ve been logged into since we downloaded the app onto our mobile devices who knows how long ago? We guess the answer to that would be, well ya…. “Try logging in and then out again” was the stellar follow-up: sounds like someone has been taking lessons from tech support at our internet provider – should we try kicking it also?

We do realize that a lot of questions sent to tech support are inane and it must be frustrating to be on the receiving end of such silliness all day long but it really rankles when we’re lumped into a group that hasn’t even developed opposable thumbs. We don’t ask for help unless we’ve googled the problem, looked through all the forums, help centers, articles, yadda yadda and basically exhausted all our own resources. God forbid tech support should and not just assume we’re logged into the wrong account – we would know if we were and that’s not even the problem anyways.
So we went back into the app, without having to log in, and lo and behold the notifications had miraculously appeared. Basically the same but somehow… Different.

At the risk of sounding like an old codger irrevocably set in our ways, we are absolutely not thrilled with the new, improved WP mobile notifications. Now we have little stars (ooh, just what I need – another gold star for my collection) and word bubbles that (take a few clicks to) change colour to prompt us that this is what the attached content is about because no one knows how to read anymore. Sadly, the cross-platform links have not quite gotten the kinks ironed out so if you have read, answered, approved or commented on any of the notifications on, god forbid, your big clunker of a monitor that you can’t carry around in your pocket, the mobile versions haven’t gotten the memo: you’ll just have to read it again to change the colour of that nifty star/bubble – because you just have that much time. We always thought the point of mobile was to make life easier, simpler, less time-consuming, to let us get from A to Z in as few steps as possible. Apparently not, and that’s just the start….

Click on your notification and what do we find? Gravatars and relevant info on who liked what, ok, that looks good; what we commented and the reply – uh oh, there’s a star prompting us like the ghost of Facebook to attach significance to “Thanks for the info…” – really? Now we have this added feature to further an already overburdened sense of guilt that we’re not engaging enough as it is?  Aaaacccckkkk….. What happened to being able to click on the link in a notification to actually see what we are being prompted to approve? Not there anymore. It means we have to go back to the monitor, sometime later, today or tomorrow, and wonder what or who we are forgetting and why we need to do this all over – again. Why is the spam flag now hidden under “more” and why should we have to go through extra steps to get to something that used to be right there under our noses? What does “edit comment” mean? Are we censoring our reader’s replies now on top of everything else? Isn’t that rude and a bit pompous? If we don’t like what people have to say about us or what we’ve posted can’t we just not approve them, ignore them and eventually they’ll disappear like in the good old passive-aggressive days of yore?  It all smacks of the mega-corporation malaise, the one where someone in the back room is trying to justify their paycheque by tweaking things that don’t need to be fixed and taking away features that were actually useful and worked properly in the first place. Upgrades don’t always mean better, lately they seem to mean guess what’s gone. Unfortunately, there does not seem to be a whole lot we can do about it but foam at the mouth like some rabid dog. Not nice at all. And it’s really not a good look for us.

Do we really need all this aggravation or should we just roll over onto our backs like an unconcerned puppy waiting for a scritch and something better to come along? It’s been exhausting and so we will follow our dog’s lead and go and lie down until we’ve forgotten about it and it’s time for dinner…

This fortnight the Big 5 Challenge asked – “Who do you resemble?” – mom or pop, lion or lemur, celebrity or saint…

We would love to know who is on your list.

For all those who are new readers to Across the Bored, some great entries and the guidelines for this challenge can be found here: Need more info, want to browse past themes or get the badge for your blog? See HOW DOES THIS WORK.

Two Cents Tuesday Challenge: Culture – Week 2

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brekkie

 generic airport brekkie fills a need

In another lifetime morning used to find us in some sort of airline mode. Bleary from having hot-foot it onto the red-eye or woken at some ungodly hour and barely coherent in the lounge, breakfast was never a sure thing. Now, most times, we have the luxury to pick and choose departure times and destination. Somewhat more in control of being able to plan things out in advance and convinced of the benefits of foresight, we have become keenly aware of how to eliminate those little disruptions that can have unpleasant after-effects.

Thirty years ago we could stomach cold soba while gazing at Mount Fuji from cruising altitude or dig into a dish of kippers at the Park Lane but now we can’t even do an 8AM donut in Chicago. Our kingdom for a bowl of granola….

It certainly can be said that the first (and don’t forget, kids, the most important) meal of the day depends on what one is used to and what we find palatable. Depending on the company kept and where in the world one finds oneself, it can vary wildly. From the hair of the dog that bit the night before to huevos rancheros, everything is relative: we’ll stick to what we know won’t come back to haunt us later in the day.

“What does your culture look like?” – costumes and customs, meals and milestones, a country or county, monument or monolith, a pantheon of people or singular person – We would love to see your vision…

For all those who are new readers to Across the Bored, some great entries and the guidelines for this fortnight’s challenge can be found here. Need more info or want to browse past themes? Have a look at HOW DOES THIS WORK.

Two Cents Tuesday Challenge: Empty – Week 2

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empty city

 having not played enough as children,
city officials create “recreational” installation in downtown core

All the action must have been on another street. Just a typical Saturday morning in the middle of town but there wasn’t even the blur of movement. It was as if, for just one moment, everyone had decided to sleep in, roll over, put it off, get just another five minutes before cramming in their weekend errands. That’s just the way we like it and one of the reasons we’re craving a return to the core of the city.

Someone artsy, and definitely with connections to the adjoining culture museum, thought that it would be a brilliant idea to squeeze in a little play-space between some of the office towers. Accessible to the office drones for their smoke-breaks or to unwrap some fast-food during a too short 1/2 hour lunch, it seems contrived rather than spontaneous, synthetic and linear despite the half-hearted use of organic shapes. We couldn’t find that little white plastic sheet defining the area’s use but imagine it might have said something like

“So and So’s work discards the traditional to become the site of poetic transformation. Stopping to encounter each work, the viewer is obliged to reimagine the nature of the the city and its change from a passive to an active space.”

Yep. A bit barren that particular morning, we did like the orange astroturf carpet circles….

“How does empty look to you?” – the glass half-filled, a bathtub drained, a look that’s lost or filled with pain, crumbs of cake, that last bite, big blue skies over a big blue lake – We would love to see your vision…

For all those who are new readers to Across the Bored, some great entries and the guidelines for this fortnight’s challenge can be found here. Need more info or want to browse past themes? Have a look at HOW DOES THIS WORK.

Two Cents Tuesday Challenge: Events – Week 2

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poster pup

yes, i can sleep with one eye open

There are some things in life, that no matter how much we have dreamed and prepared for them, happen all of a sudden. We are thrown into them like it or not and no matter how long and hard we have been planning in secret, we are forced into making them become a concrete part of what we do on a daily basis.

Our so-called summer of sloth turned into over a month-long marathon session in front of the monitor because of three little words – Total Pet Expo. In the world that pays our bills, we had been working on a particular doggie project for longer than we care to remember and as much as the whole thing was well-intentioned, it never really gained any momentum until just recently. The stars aligned, everything fell into place without the usual friction (almost, if stamping one’s feet doesn’t count) and we pulled a few miracles out of places better left alone. This old dog learned a few new tricks in the process…

We won’t divulge just yet (yes, we are that superstitious) but we will say that our own mutt will be having his own 15 minutes of fame, thank you very much Andy.

“Show us your events” – big or small, happy or sad, with balloons and streamers, blaring brass bands and thronging crowds or alone on a kayak, blue skies or grey, any kind of day that it might be. We would love to see your vision…

For all those who are new readers to Across the Bored, some great entries and the guidelines for this fortnight’s challenge can be found here. Need more info or want to browse past themes? Have a look at HOW DOES THIS WORK.

The Big 5 – Challenger’s Choice – Week 2

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NY-In-The-Moment-788828

if only…  running really fast to try and catch it

This fortnight the Big 5 Challenge is leaving it up to you – Challenger’s Choice!

What do you crave?    How old do you feel?    When was your last Duh moment?    Where do you relax?     Why did you start to blog?    Who is your Underdog?    What is your Favourite Flower?     When is the last time you really laughed?    How do you relax?     Who did you listen to?      Where are you from?     What are you reading?

We would love to know which topic gets you going…

For all those who are new readers to Across the Bored, some great entries and the guidelines for this challenge can be found here: Need more info, want to browse past themes or get the badge for your blog? See HOW DOES THIS WORK.

Two Cents Tuesday Challenge: Blooms – Week 2

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we should all be so lucky

Just a little something short and sweet as Across the Bored’s current project is taking up way too much of what should have been fun in the sun time.  The Two Cents Tuesday Challenge would like to remind everyone to cultivate all the lovely blooms in their lives, be it love of all and any kind, the company of friends and family in the sweet slowness of summer and yes, even the magic that blossoms when we are forced to think outside of the box…

“Tell us about your blooms?” – are they flowers or fruit, a vegetable patch, clover in the field or a roof of thatch, babies and puppies, a store full of hats, a sky full of parasols or basket of cats.

We would love to see your vision…

For all those who are new readers to Across the Bored, some great entries and the guidelines for this fortnight’s challenge can be found here. Need more info or want to browse past themes? Have a look at HOW DOES THIS WORK.

The Big 5 – “What” do you crave? – Week 2

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spock massageplease, please, please come to my house – i’ll pay anything

Have you ever had one of those days where everything that could possibly go wrong did? This particular Wednesday proved a fine example of that old adage: we woke at an ungodly hour to the sound of the sprinkler system kicking in like Niagara Falls in the duct work and discovered that the source of a prolonged hot flash was coming from the dog jammed quite contentedly into our armpit. It was dentist day part 2: despite the grey skies we decided to walk – it wasn’t that far but the swollen rain clouds looming overhead decided they couldn’t wait another five minutes and released the inundation upon us halfway there. Arriving early and waiting an additional half hour was a bonus that let us dry out a bit before the heavy demolition began in earnest. After an hour in the chair the silky strains of Respighi could not soften the blow that the simple filling we had gone in for had now turned into a hidden crack and future crown. Not feeling like a princess at all….

Murphy must have been laughing from on high when he saw us leave the dentist’s office. A break in the torrential weather, another bad decision to walk, more rain the size of spitballs, major construction tearing up the side streets causing us to skip and jump across puddles and piles of gravel, wrongly stocked items at the grocery store resulting in ludicrous prices at the cash, too many packages resulting in the forgotten umbrella, a return for the barely usable brolly and finally home.  All we could think about was a piece of Russian toast and a caramel macchiato, neither of which was going to happen seeing we resembled a wet-mouth Saint Bernard and most words came out crooked anyways.

The weather seemed to have put everyone on tenterhooks with the simplest questions having a cataclysmic effect quite unwarranted (us included). We told everyone in no uncertain terms not to ask what is for dinner. The invitation to Spock though has been extended to perpetuity for all we really want, right now, is not to be bothered. Could be worse…

This fortnight the Big 5 Challenge is interested to know –  “What do you crave?” – peace and quiet, a hearty party, a chocolate-covered donut, pastrami sandwich or kale smoothie, to be alone, to be away, a 48-hour long day…

We would love to know what has been poking you to go for it.

For all those who are new readers to Across the Bored, some great entries and the guidelines for this challenge can be found here: Need more info, want to browse past themes or get the badge for your blog? See HOW DOES THIS WORK.

Two Cents Tuesday Challenge: It’s up to You, again – Week 2

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incomprehensibly heart-rending: to think we all made it this far

No matter what part of the calendar summer falls in, everyone looks forward to the season with some anticipation. It may be that few weeks off where one gets to do absolutely nothing or everything they’ve been procrastinating on and not able to get to during the rest of the year, a time to reconnect with friends and family or run for the hills to soak in some solitude. However we use our time, it somehow seems more precious than the hours that slip by during the industrious days of autumn, the slogging stubbornness of winter or the promise of spring.

We had plans. Right off the bat that should have been a warning and some indication based on precedent that a whole slew of other things would get in the way of anything we set out for ourselves to accomplish during this two-month supposed hiatus from the workaday. A detour here, unexpected guest there, some forced socialization (we do not especially play well with others and even less so when it is on their terms and not ours), an unexpected real-world project that, however exciting, is resulting in some unwanted indoor time when the sun is shining: it all takes us away from what we would rather be doing. Perhaps that makes it all the sweeter when we do finally return to what makes us tick, makes the possibilities tantalizing, more brightly coloured and fleshed-out (jotting down a quick note helps to avoid the “remember last week…” syndrome). Some things, like getting up in the morning, are a part of our day and even though recent posts have been, as the Professor put it, formulated on the fly they are necessary to our well-being. The Two Cents Tuesday Challenge is constantly amazed and ever so thankful that there are some constants despite it all.

Last week, we lobbed the ball back into your court, so for all the little gravatars that make us smile as we scroll – “It’s up to You, again…” Choice is a wonderful thing.

Heat    Surprise    Silly    Expectations    Lost    Abstract     Grateful     Bliss     T-shirts     Shoes    Loyalty    Painting    Cook    Wishes    Paths    Writing    Birthday    Wonder    Harvest     Size    Words     Routine    Calm    Curious    It’s up to You    Toys    Clean    Bold     Random    Heritage    Special    Happy    Gifts    Graffiti    Brilliant    Funny    Habit    Resolution    Relax    Sweet    Illumination   Decoration   Morning   Style    Home   Pressure   Temptation    Manipulation    Compromise    Procrastination

We would love to see your vision..

For all those who are new readers to Across the Bored, some great entries and the guidelines for this fortnight’s challenge can be found here. Need more info or want to browse past themes? Have a look at HOW DOES THIS WORK.

The Big 5 – “How” old do you feel? – Week 2

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anyone remember this decade?

Having been too old to enjoy Sesame Street when it first came out and not old enough to appreciate its finer comedic timing and pop culture references, Across the Bored was quite pleased when The Muppet Show made its debut in the late 1970s.  Sublimely ridiculous in its use of punmanship, with unabashed references to everyone from Shakespeare to the Village People, it was the one of the few shows that we watched faithfully. The combination of great silliness, snort-worthy parodies and even a few tear-inducing moments were exactly what we needed at that point in time.

We still do Swedish Chef impressions when trying to explain incomprehensible recipes, see the wisdom in Miss Piggy’s approach to life and yes, on some days know we have become Waldorf and Statler chiding and deriding from the best seats in the house. Watching reruns of this classic, truly unique in its genre, brings it all back and we laugh like pre-schoolers all over again.

This fortnight the Big 5 Challenge prodded – “How old do you feel?” –  like a kid in a candy shoppe or drudge with a mop, like you could run a mile, need to rest a while, could change your style or rule the world…

We would love to know how you are reeling in the years.

For all those who are new readers to Across the Bored, some great entries and the guidelines for this challenge can be found here: Need more info, want to browse past themes or get the badge for your blog? See HOW DOES THIS WORK.

Two Cents Tuesday Challenge: Heat – Week 2

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heat

modern day hunter-gatherers stalk elusive prey

When summer hits its stride in our neighbourhood the pervasive aroma outdoors around dinnertime is one of barbecue. Not your standard throw a couple of burgers on the grill type smoke wafting over the fence but the piquancy of Italian sausage, a simmering curry, jerk pork or roasting garden vegetables, for our street is a veritable United Nations of culinary diversity. We sometimes sit on the patio and sniff deeply, trying to divine what our neighbours will be feasting on by the tantalizing odours that snake across the back yards.     Our tastebuds anticipate much but truth be told when the temperature rises higher than our age Across the Bored is much happier when someone else cooks.

We do have a very valid ulterior motive: our reasoning is that our voluntary withdrawal from estival kitchen duty forces the Ghost and Miss Z to hone some very valuable and rewarding life skills. Their palates have been curated over the years, now is the time to see whether they have the chops to create their own mouth-watering masterpieces. Marinated or mulled, mixed, chopped, sautéed or saturated, in the oven, on the stovetop or flaming barbecue this fortnight’s Two Cents Tuesday Challenge theme would like to turn up the – Heat – and  get something wonderful cooking. Serve it and we will eat. If the weather has us all wilted, just put on some walking shoes and hunt down the nearest food truck…

Last week, Across the Bored asked “How do you see heat?” – The sun on your face, a favourite beach place, curry in a pot, flames fanning hot, a tight situation or artistic creation. We would love to see your vision..

For all those who are new readers to Across the Bored, some great entries and the guidelines for this fortnight’s challenge can be found here. Need more info or want to browse past themes? Have a look at HOW DOES THIS WORK.

The Big 5 – “When” was your last Duh moment? – Week 2

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duh note

we’re going to need the bulk pack of these

We couldn’t stifle a laugh booking eye appointments recently, although to be fair some confusion may have arisen from the fact that there is a quite complicated system in place as regards family names/gender for anything medical or governmental in our province.  The optometrist’s secretary chirpily asked “Ok Mrs. X, your file is under your maiden name, now could you give me your husband and son’s last name, please?” Pffft!!! She knew as soon as she had let it slipped – brain on autopilot, all part of the job….

Everyone from the Urban to Oxford dictionaries has an entry for the word we most closely associate with this kind of event. On Wiktionary certain Slavic language etymologies roughly translate it to mean a ghost or spirit, which makes some sense as it seems as though the perpetrator of the action is usually not functioning at full capacity.  In Shabo, it means “breast”, a definition which is perhaps the most accurate as we all feel like boobs when when we realize just how idiotic what we have just said or done is. Duh….

This fortnight the Big 5 Challenge pondered – “When was your last Duh moment?” – while reading a newspaper, watching TV, tripping over your own feet or someone else’s, silly or sad, complicated or bad, indescribably inane or just downright dense…

We would love to know when you last rolled your eyes to the heavens in exasperation.

For all those who are new readers to Across the Bored, some great entries and the guidelines for this challenge can be found here: Need more info, want to browse past themes or get the badge for your blog? See HOW DOES THIS WORK.

Two Cents Tuesday Challenge: Surprise – Week 2

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mouthguard required

One of Across the Bored’s blogger friends made a comment regarding this week’s theme that reminded us of Elmore Leonard’s novel-turned-film “Get Shorty” starring John Travolta, Gene Hackman and Danny DeVito among a raft of other Hollywood A-listers. A crime-comedy-thriller about gangsters and decoys, death and deception, cons and canards, the story carries both its own characters and the viewer along on a joy ride that has more twists and turns than a 5 star amusement-park roller coaster.

The critical acclaim it received comes partly from the leads’ stellar performances but more importantly from the exposition of well-crafted personalities and how they manifest when thrown into sometimes wildly explosive circumstances. Every cinematic opportunity is taken to play off the unexpected against basic human nature and the plot capitalizes on this to unravel and unfold the drama to the next level. The lead-up to poor mob boss Momo’s birthday extravaganza highlights the notion that we default to that which we are accustomed to, that way of living and reacting that becomes the pattern for our existence going forward.

Life has a warped sense of humour that seems to say “let’s see what happens if…” at every turn. Like even the most well-intentioned family and acquaintances, it takes pleasure in fooling us. As our friend wryly pointed out, there is no doubt that some social situations, especially the ones that are thrust upon us, the ones for which we are totally unprepared for or seem to come out of left field, that leave us not only shocked but mortified. This fortnight’s Two Cents Tuesday Challenge theme – Surprise – knows that when it comes to the crunch, really, anything can happen. Hold on to your hat….

Last week, Across the Bored pondered  – “How does surprise look to you?” – Awkward or elated, with a bang or for the bin, elegant or understated, sweet and delicious, with a side of sin…  We would love to see your vision.

For all those who are new readers to Across the Bored, some great entries and the guidelines for this fortnight’s challenge can be found here. Need more info or want to browse past themes? Have a look at HOW DOES THIS WORK.

The Big 5 – “Where” do you relax? – Week 2

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charles-barsotti-relax-it-s-summertime-and-the-living-is-easy-new-yorker-cartoon

so much so that auto-schedule is also taking a break

Perhaps the old joke about this part of the continent having 10 months of winter and 2 months of lousy skating has more than a little to do with the fact that once this season comes we are all just a wee bit off kilter and though full of ideas about how best to take advantage of everything outdoorsy, we are at the same time stricken with that full-body paralysis that makes us just want to lie on something soft in the brightest patch of sun around.

Urban summer is a whole different season from blissful by-the-ocean or camping in the meadow endeavours and was proven by an unavoidable Sunday morning trek into the core of town only because we could not live one moment longer without power for the internet router. Of course, tech support sent us to the wrong outlet. The one with the not-so-happy to be working on the last day of a glorious weekend sales associate who was no help at all and who will not be winning any customer service/employee of the month awards; the one which opened a full two hours before the one that actually did carry the part we needed… Now our day of rest is usually spent in relative solitude, far from the madding crowds with perhaps a nice waffle and a cappuccino on the patio and the most aggravating it gets is lazy dog clamouring to visit his friend next door. So needless to say, we were not amused.

It did give us a chance to walk around for a bit and play tourist with those out for Grand Prix weekend but mostly it served to remind us that downtown is best enjoyed when everyone is working. What was supposed to be a quick trip turned into a five hour trek and resulted in one pitiful AC plug and the need to put our feet up for a bit when we finally did make it home. Could be worse, we could have paid a small fortune to broil with no earplugs in the stands at the racetrack. This fortnight the Big 5 Challenge asked – “Where do you relax?” – under a cozy duvet or at the beach, on skis or a motorcycle, in the garden or in the middle of the city, behind the wheel or in front of the pack…

We would love to know where you are the most at ease.

For all those who are new readers to Across the Bored, some great entries and the guidelines for this challenge can be found here: Need more info, want to browse past themes or get the badge for your blog? See HOW DOES THIS WORK.

Two Cents Tuesday Challenge: Silly – Week 2

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silly old duck! where we learned to rhyme…

Once upon a time, we would sit ourselves down at 5:55 every Sunday evening in anticipation of that magical moment when the Disney theme song would come crackling out of the television set. The hour’s entertainment was always a surprise for there was no TV Guide to tell us what to expect – not every show was a thriller but those nights that were more than made up for the “educational” instalments. Our favourites, like most little kids, were the cartoons and it didn’t really matter who took centre stage for they each had a repertoire guaranteed to generate a few laughs.

Ludwig Von Drake was the odd bird in the Disney Duck family: it might have been that he was a little high-brow, had an odd accent or just wasn’t slap-stick enough for most but our pre-school mind-in-formation saw that here was a fowl who knew his way around science, classic literature and music and had evidently seen a thing or two of the world and come back to tell everyone about it.  As much as we craved to be the miniature tornadoes of trouble that were Huey, Dewey and Louie, the Professor who knew something about everything was more our type of role-model. Besides, he had a warped sense of humour and was a whiz at constructing a bad pun…

This fortnight the Two Cents Tuesday Challenge recommends that we all remember what it is like to be – Silly – lie in the grass and look at the clouds, go kick a can, eat an ice cream cone with sloppy abandon like a five-year old but let yourself do something frivolous for a change.

“What is silly?” – A cartoon character or politician’s gaff, a two year old’s antics, a joke or a laugh, a funky fad or fashion craze, an old-timer’s tale or those newfangled ways…  We would love to see your vision.

For all those who are new readers to Across the Bored, some great entries and the guidelines for this fortnight’s challenge can be found here. Need more info or want to browse past themes? Have a look at HOW DOES THIS WORK.

The Big 5 – “Why” did you start to blog? – Week 2

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110926_cartoon_090_a15925_p465

all depends on the day…

Throughout the last week we have been reading some great entries into this challenge and have to say that many of the reasons that other bloggers got started are ones that we can easily associate with: as a journal, a place to vent, a vehicle for artistic expression, to connect with others and to see what the rest of the blogosphere is up to are just a few of the points offered up. We had been saving Roz Chast’s cartoon for a very long time in the knowledge that one day it would be just right for that very special post and lo and behold, it is. She knows us all and must have been perched on our shoulder the day we first pressed publish for we are All of the Above, though we would like to think that subtlety plays at least a small part in getting our point across.

Did we think we could change the world? Not realistically. Did we anticipate changing ourselves? Never in a million years, but we did. Would we do it all over again? In a heartbeat and we would venture that many of you would also. This fortnight the Big 5 Challenge is curious to know “Why did you start to blog?” – forum or fancy, news or reviews, to find friend or battle foe, seek source of satisfaction or sound out discussion, to expound, extoll, expand, in song, full-colour, poetry or prose …

We would love to know why you decided to put it all out there.

For all those who are new readers to Across the Bored, some great entries and the guidelines for this challenge can be found here: Need more info, want to browse past themes or get the badge for your blog? See HOW DOES THIS WORK.

Two Cents Tuesday Challenge: Expectations – Week 2

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shoe expectations

a running shoe for every occasion

Our city of the perpetual pothole takes great pride in its public transit system and we availed ourselves of the services today (at $3 a clip I might add) to get to a months-long-awaited dermatologist’s appointment. It is still cheaper than parking in a lot where the valet figures our ride is a better choice for doing a few quick errands than that new Mercedes and a good way to force ourselves to sit back and find out what is really going on in the world. The only thing that seems to have really changed since we used to do this on a daily basis is that everyone is either plugged in or glued to a small device. Those who weren’t looked dazed and tired – maybe it was the time of day or perhaps just the times.

The return rush hour trip entailed a quick scramble to make the connection and we were lucky enough to park ourselves quite comfortably in one of the last available seats. End of day commuters, students, shoppers and old people all filed in silently, anxious to get home. Our urban melting pot gets a lot of visitors starting around this time of year and many arrive without much more than a basic knowledge of either official language: this makes deciphering our unnecessarily complex ticketing system problematic. Doing so with kids in tow is even more of a party game.

We watched two very small children wander up and down the aisle, twice. It didn’t seem to phase them that they couldn’t see the parent for the knees and we could hear the driver trying to explain that only one ticket was needed (under-sixes ride free) before a woman made her way back with her charges. The thought of them swaying back and forth, with her trying to hold onto both without losing one to sudden stops and swerves was just too much. I got up and offered her my seat. She shook her head to decline but we prevailed and could see the visible relief on her face.

The crux of this tale lies not in doing the right thing ourselves but in how many people don’t. The man with the good tie and mediocre suit years younger than us could easily have gotten up before us or even offered the mother his own seat so she could sit beside her two children now crammed into ours. Looking around we realized that there were any number of people who could have stepped up, but they didn’t. So we hung off the strap like the well-seasoned traveller we are until the unconscious hordes thinned out and we could sit down again. This fortnight the Two Cents Tuesday Challenge realizes that sometimes our – Expectations – what we think is a given in society about how people should act, actually have no basis in reality. We can only hope that our own actions may have made them think.

“What do expectations represent for you?” – A quick response or satisfying result, respect for an effort made or just a gentle thank-you, the bloom of a spring bulb, bark of a dog at the postman, the sun to come up in the morn or the stars to shine at night…  We would love to see your vision.

For all those who are new readers to Across the Bored, some great entries and the guidelines for this fortnight’s challenge can be found here. Need more info or want to browse past themes? Have a look at HOW DOES THIS WORK.

The Big 5 – “Who” is your Underdog? – Week 2

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LightMyFire

Sometimes just a spark is all that’s necessary

Today’s post was originally going to explore the topic of small countries’ efforts towards independence but an entry in our Two Cents Tuesday Challenge: Lost moved our train of thought in a different, yet quite related, direction. We were  reminded of a cigarette brand whose late 60s marketing was geared exclusively to women. Even though the memory had nothing to do with ponderings on smoking, advertising or even women’s liberation, the idea behind the campaign, the quest for determination, did.

Virginia Slims groovy slogan of “You’ve come a long way, baby!” reached back to those generations who had come through depression, a few world wars and huge changes to gender roles in both social and domestic milieus. Fast forward fifty years and it is all the more poignant for despite the radical adjustments we have all made, things really aren’t a whole lot better. In fact, one might argue that they are worse. Our own mum has been known to shake her head in disbelief and mutter “I don’t know how you do it” which is odd considering how both she and her own mother conducted their lives, taking risks and acting outside of accepted convention – besides, like them, it is not as if we have much choice in the matter.

We have, sadly, been duped by the media machine that decided we could be everything to everyone all the time: that we could not only wear the pants but have a closet filled with matching hats that we could defiantly don all at once or interchangeably on a whim. We were told, tempted, nagged, chided, berated and reminded that we could do anything we desired if we really wanted to – be saint and sinner, sacred and sex object, saboteur, sage and saviour. It is not true.

There is a dark and pervasive strain of something or other that has been poisoning the well of our being. As usual, we thought it was just us in our little bubble feeling put-out and put-upon but the more we read and created a dialogue, it became apparent that there are many of us out there suddenly realizing that the moment we stop to take a breath we feel like we are drowning. The author of the post that led to all this postulation wrote of a certain state of being lost, in a “fog… that suffocates the quality of daily life”. Is this malaise generationally endemic? Has it struck only North Americans who have been bombarded by false hope and the pipe dream of attaining super-womanhood or is it a plague that knows no borders? Who can say: it is the stuff of discourse but some days it makes us want to just start a fire under the whole thing…

This fortnight the Big 5 Challenge is dedicated to all those of both genders who are still fighting the big battle, one in which a constantly metamorphosing enemy defies pinpointing and where the front lines keep moving from day to day.

“Who is your Underdog?” – young or old, timid or bold, flash in the pan or kicking the can, cartoon or larger than life …

We would love to know who flies above the crowd for you.

For all those who are new readers to Across the Bored, some great entries and the guidelines for this challenge can be found here: Need more info, want to browse past themes or get the badge for your blog? See HOW DOES THIS WORK.

Two Cents Tuesday Challenge: Lost – Week 2

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lost 2

when every step leads further away from where you started

Everyone misplaces stuff. The old joke about Grampa looking for his spectacles when they are perched on his head isn’t the material of urban legend, it is a fact: our own mother uses her sunglasses as a headband and then asks straight-faced where they may have gotten to. Such are the vagaries of age but they are also a greater indication of a pre-occupation with other things at hand that might be more interesting, important or just distracting. It is a given that the more stuff one has, be it material or what we carry around in our heads, at some point or another we are going to drop bits without even knowing where or when. Our metaphysical file cabinets can get so jammed that the drawers don’t close anymore. Remember that really significant, sentimental, valuable (insert appropriate adjective here) thing that suddenly loomed large, clear as day, in foggy 2AM insomniac brain wanderings?

Gone.

So you retrace your steps to the source. Or try to, but sometimes it has been a very long journey indeed since said thing has been reassigned to a new location. Organizational skills aren’t very helpful in this kind of situation, in fact, they can be a huge hindrance for what seemed like a really good idea at the time can make no sense at all later. Oh, I’ll just put it here and no, I don’t need to write that number down – I’m positive they said 4pm… Thankfully, many of these quandaries can be solved with a little detective work. Like Jack and Victor looking for the disappeared scone (oh, here it is next to the phone…) they can end in success  – or the sad realization that, like the Two Cents Tuesday Challenge, they are irretrievably – Lost. 

Last week we wanted to know “Have you ever been lost?” – In a great book or symphony, in love or grief, in the magic of a sunset or the gaze of a newborn, in traffic or far from home…

We would love to see your vision.

For all those who are new readers to Across the Bored, some great entries and the guidelines for this fortnight’s challenge can be found here. Need more info or want to browse past themes? Have a look at HOW DOES THIS WORK.

The Big 5 – “What” is your favourite Flower ? – Week 2

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mauve flowers

we’ll be using this one for reference

It is a bit like watching a pot of water to see when it will boil: waiting for spring to grace us with her presence, we mean. Looking out the window every morning with the hopes that there will be a sudden burst of warm sunlight doesn’t seem to help and if the calendar didn’t say (almost) May one might assume that we were poised on the back end of summer expecting a first snow any day soon. Even though the grass on our front lawn is slowly turning green out of desperation for better days, temperatures refuse to be coaxed into decent double digits and the flower beds are still unremarkable.

We can’t remember what we planted last year but that doesn’t really matter for even if we did, it’s not guaranteed to come up this year anyways. The joke is on us for some of the blooms we thought would brighten things up have turned out to be biennial rather than perennial. Apparently this is a detail the garden centres think would be better to leave off the care label half-covered by a large orange price sticker. We do recall the kind of blossoms the larger plants will produce but most of those will likely appear when we’ve given up and gone on vacation.

The neighbours tell us it looks lovely in July, perhaps we will take our sabbatical a month earlier this year and return just as everything pops out in its wondrous glory all at the same time. The Big 5 Challenge will decide then which exotic cluster wins best of show…

“What is your favourite flower?” – Irises exotic, roses by the score, daffodils, sweet tendrils, petunias by the door, sweet peas, lilies or birds of paradise, grand or wild, fragrant or mild, a pot of something nice …

We would love to know what flora strikes your fancy.

For all those who are new readers to Across the Bored, some great entries and the guidelines for this challenge can be found here: Need more info, want to browse past themes or get the badge for your blog? See HOW DOES THIS WORK.

Two Cents Tuesday Challenge: Abstract – Week 2

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ear art 2

I did this with my ear and thought you might like it

Across the Bored is sure that at some point in all our lives we have looked at our pets and wondered what was really going on in their heads. We look at people and think the same thing so it’s not much of a stretch to extend it to those furry partners we wander through life with.  Reams of paper have been filled with wise words and theories about the nature of the way we reason, be it concrete or logical, creative or emotional but the subject of animal cognition is still a subject of debate.

We know for a fact that our own smelly dog wishes he had squirrel superpowers – we can tell by the way he stares wistfully out the window when they taunt him from the lawn and the way he leaps up the side of the tree when in hot pursuit. Such desire is evident in the way his paws flex and rotate in very undoggy-like fashion when he lies dreaming upside down in our favourite chair.  If he had opposable thumbs things might be very different around our house and that he forces us to stop what we are doing and stare deeply into his eyes until we know exactly what he wants would certainly indicate that there is more going on in his fuzzy noggin than “eat, sleep, bark, pee, eat, sleep, chew on something…”. The Two Cents Tuesday Challenge theme this fortnight, therefore, puts forth that – Abstract – thinking is not solely the realm of those who stand upright. 

Last week we pondered “What is abstract for you” – A concept or theory, an artwork or query, a math problem, a description, philosophy or music, the very universe  …

We would love to see your vision.

For all those who are new readers to Across the Bored, some great entries and the guidelines for this fortnight’s challenge can be found here. Need more info or want to browse past themes? Have a look at HOW DOES THIS WORK.

The Big 5 – “When” is the last time you really laughed? – Week 2

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07-The-Far-Side-Best-Comic-Strips-1

so accurate in so many ways

Humour is an intensely personal affair and we are lucky when others share and indulge it.  So needless to say we were heartbroken when Gary Larson decided to retire in 1995 – who would provide our daily dose, make us snort, who would be there with that little snippet of truth that summed up exactly how we felt? It was as if a long relationship was suddenly being ended by one of us saying that they “needed a little space”. Understandable perhaps but nonetheless traumatic…

In our local bookshop there was a massive compilation of the cartoonist’s work available at a horrific price; at that time, the needs of our then-quite-small children outweighed any amusingly adult indulgences and so it sat on their shelf collecting dust.  How we coveted that heavy tome and wondered what witty gems it hid within. Many years later, we found a copy online at less than a quarter of the list price – how could we resist?

It is an edition, like a select few others, that we go back to over and over again. There are cartoons that have become reference points, some of their phrases appropriated into private jokes and used to encapsulate a whole world of situational descriptors and the wonder of it all is that they are still as fresh as the day they were penned. So, yes Gary, we can appreciate how emotionally exhausting it must have been to be “on” all the time, and will respect your wishes not to redistribute your work, but want to let you know that even after all these years we are still amused and delighted. The Big 5 Challenge takes our guffaws where we can get ’em and this fortnight wonders…

“When is the last time you really laughed?” – over coffee and the comics, at the movies, with a friend, in the car or under the stars, at silly signs or awkward times…

For all those who are new readers to Across the Bored, some great entries and the guidelines for this challenge can be found here: Need more info, want to browse past themes or get the badge for your blog? See HOW DOES THIS WORK.

Two Cents Tuesday Challenge: Grateful – Week 2

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watches for grateful

it’s all relative

Thanks goodness there is finally a reprieve from the longest winter ever with the delivery of the first thunder and lightening storm of the season. We usually moan about heavy rain and how it adds that extra bit of fun to the logistics of getting out and about but April showers are actually a blessing in disguise for city dwellers. One day of unseasonably warm weather reduced the last of the nasty frozen black detritus on our front lawn to a mix of gravel and unmentionables, relieving us of the temptation to go at it with a pick-axe and revealed in the flower beds where our procrastinating green thumb had turned brown late last fall. Most unkempt and while there is not much to be done about that but get out the shears and gardening gloves and hack down the offending mess, it remains a blatant reminder that we will be spending some time en plein air and off the keyboard. Then the rains came…

Mother Nature must feel much the way we do – that everything is looking a bit sad and worn around the corners, dusty, fingerprint-tagged, dog-nose snuffly window smeared and in need of a good scrub. The outdoor inundations wash away the mess of the passing seasons on a grand scale, too bad it’s not as easy in our little nest. The Two Cents Tuesday Challenge theme this fortnight, therefore, is – Grateful – for the excuse to stay indoors and pass a few hours putting things in order.

Last week we asked “Are you grateful”? – For socialized medicine, healing rotator cuffs, a like on your post or tribulations tough, family, friends, the children next door, muddy paws of loved dogs that muck up the floor …

We would love to see your vision.

For all those who are new readers to Across the Bored, some great entries and the guidelines for this fortnight’s challenge can be found here. Need more info or want to browse past themes? Have a look at HOW DOES THIS WORK.